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The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but” against the Lord.Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’“And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“ In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.’“ The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. (Exodus 16:1-18, NRSV)

The people had left Egypt with supplies for only a little while. But they should not have been worried, but isn’t that human nature?

We are hungry, and things were so much better back in Egypt because we could sit next to the fleshpots and eat our fill of bread, but let us not remember now the bondage we were in and the back-breaking work we were doing, because now we are hungry and we only remember the free-flowing food.

But God already knew how He was going to handle this, but He heard their grumbling and gave them quail in the evening for meat, and manna for bread every morning. And no matter how much they collected, a little or a lot, they had the exact measure they needed. God was watching over them.

And even in the watching over they still wondered, as the name manna literally means, “What is it?”

So remember you don’t have to understand what God is doing, we are called to trust Him and follow Him.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’? “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken. “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass? “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together? (Job 38:1-38, NRSV)

Where were you?

And really what can we do without the help of God? Nothing really good…

God has done so much for us, that doesn’t mean we will always understand the circumstances we or our loved ones go through, but God has it all under control.

And this passage reminded me of this song:

I thought up all the questions that my human mind could bring
And laid them out before the Lord and demanded a reason for these things
I asked about inequality and the success of evil men
But what was I to say to Him, when He answered with this question

Where were you when I split the sky and the sea
Where were you when I taught the lion to roar
Where were you when I made electricity
Fall from the sky in the middle of a thunderstorm
Where were you

And I had no response, I had no reply
‘Cause the One who spoke and is the truth opened up my eyes
And I laid my time of doubt at the feet of the infinite
But what was left for me to say when He answered with this question

Where were you when I split the sky and the sea
Where were you when I taught the lion to roar
Where were you when I made electricity
Fall from the sky in the middle of a thunderstorm

Where were you when I put stars in the sky
Where were you when I taught the eagle to fly
Where were you when I made that little child
Look just like her mom but she had her Daddy’s eyes
Where were you

Where were you
Where were you

Where were you when I split the sky and the sea
Where were you when I taught the lion to roar
Where were you when I made electricity
Fall from the sky in the middle of a thunderstorm

Where were you when I put stars in the sky
Where were you when I taught the eagle to fly
Where were you when I made that little child
Look just like her mom but she had her Daddy’s eyes
Where were you

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35, NRSV)

I love this passage because I always wonder why they did not know who Jesus was. And the reading is plain why they don’t know who he is, “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”

But why?

So He could open the scriptures for them?

For Him to explain what the Messiah really came to do?

To break down the misconceptions about who God is and what the Messiah was going to do?

We have our notions about who God is and what Jesus did. How many times do we miss Jesus right in front of us>

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD. (2 Kings 4:42-44, NRSV)

God how can I do that?

This isn’t possible, how is this going to work…

So many times in my life I have had to let go and let God handle the details and just trust that it was going to work out. We want to control and see things with our eyes, but in the grand scheme of things we can not see or understand the cosmic wonders of this world we are in and have to allow the one who created all things, who walks by our side everyday have the wheel and control and sit back and enjoy the ride.

We will never get the view He can give us if we always say, that won’t happen, or can that be…

Know that with God all things are possible and give Him the wheel and enjoy the view as He takes you kn a tour you could never imagine!

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves.No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. (John 6:35-48, NRSV)

That I should lose nothing of all that he has given me…

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…

Well I must not have ever come to Jesus or believe in Him because I get hungry and thirsty all the time!

But I know I have come to Him and I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that I believe in Him! I came to Him in my baptism at age 19, when I was put under the water, and raised to new life in Him. And I believe that He is always with me and that is what has gotten me through the years and times of darkness.

And because of this, I will never be lost to Him. I will be held tightly in His hand and I will be raised up with Him on the last day. It is a promise we can hold on to.

We have to hold to the promises and know that even when we do not understand, as the Jews didn’t see Him for who He really was, that He will not lose His grip on us.

So know you have been drawn to Him, and you are in His grip and He will never lose you!

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: ‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.’ The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:26-40, NRSV)

How can I know what I am reading if no one explains it to me!

We need each other to share our understandings of the story of God. My interpretation could be skewed and I will not know if I have it right unless someone tells me what they know.

Just like Philip we need to be ready to run along side someone and explain to them what we know of God in our life and the scripture so we can all grow in our relationship with God and each other.

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:31-34 NRSV)

How many times have you read the Bible and wondered what in the world you just read?

How many times have we read something about the disciples not getting what Jesus has said to them? They didn’t get it, and neither do we sometimes…

Jesus spoke clearly to them and today God is speaking clearly to us, yet we are sometimes so hung up on our tradition and the way we have always done it or known it to be we can not hear what God is saying new…

So are you hearing God speak to you and not able to hear Him because you are stuck in your tradition? Listen to God and hear Him, and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense right then, God would not lead you astray.